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Samuel Barber

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Samuel Barber was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone and music teacher, born in 1910 and died in 1981. He studied composition for nine years with Rosario Scalero at the Curtis Institute and for more than twenty-five years with his uncle, the composer Sidney Homer. His work was for a long time very popular and he was regarded as one of the best-known composers of the mid-twentieth century.

Music and breakthrough

Barber remained largely faithful to the traditional harmony and form of the nineteenth century. His music is lyrical and emotional. His Adagio for Strings from 1936 is firmly established in the orchestral repertoire, as is the choral version, Agnus Dei from 1967. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, for the opera Vanessa and for the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is also widely performed. Two thirds of his work consists of vocal music: songs with piano, choral music and songs with orchestra, such as Sure on this shining night and the cycle Hermit Songs. This stems from his own short career as a baritone.

Influence

The Adagio is a slow piece for strings that builds gradually and ends in a climax. That made it suited to a new life in dance music, when Tiësto turned it into a trance hit in 2004. In School of Rock this appears as a listening tip.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Tiësto's Adagio for Strings and notice the build-up: Barber's melody, the break and then the release. Compare that with the original string piece from 1936.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists